GLOBAL COMMUNITIES for SUSTAINABILITY School driven Partnership models for sustainable communities

Purpose of Meeting  Project Description  Value of such a Project  Relevance to national indicators under DESD  Avenues for Support

Rationale for the Project  CEE is experienced in developing materials and programs in support of EE and ESD  CEE supports partnerships utilising complementary strengths of other organisations to avoid duplication of effort  Need to bridge international experiences within the ambit of EE in India and Australia to enhance quality, depth and range of programs

Objectives  To set up a liaison and partnership in counterpart states of Australia and India  To develop and share their Sustainable Development Initiatives (SDI s) using schools as the focal group  To include their communities and engage various stakeholders in the sustainable development initiatives  Essentially it will comprise individuals and institutions from the formal and non-formal education sectors such as school children, teachers, faculties of universities and staff from knowledge based institutions such as research centres, botanical gardens and museums

GCS process  Upto 15 Schools from a pilot state in India and 15 from an Australian state are invited to participate  Each works on a Sustainable Development initiative (SDi)  Each SDi unites a cluster of stakeholders in the community  Each SDi identifies its individual sustainability concerns, develops work plans and acts on them

GCS Process (cont’d)  Cluster representatives from best project visit their counterpart country for exchange of experiences  They return to share what they have learned through youth networks, local govt. events, workshops, publications, conferences

Exchange Visits  Visiting teams to consist of 1 teacher and 2 students  Expected outcomes are: *A greater understanding of sustainability in contrasting cultures *A better understanding of the influence of educational, social, cultural, geographical, economic and political contexts on capacity, actions and visions for sustainability

Relevance to DESD  Promote education and strengthen international cooperation towards the development of innovative policies, programs and practices of ESD  Encourage changes in behaviour that allow for a more sustainable and just society for all  CEE already a leader in the DESD. Ahmedabad International Conference in January 2005  CEE has produced 2 films on ESD for UNESCO

Principles  SDI will support enquiry based and action learning principles and processes to ensure deep learning and change will occur  Communication processes involving the whole school and its community encouraged  Communication network will be established between stakeholding partners in the local community and with counterparts in India  Support for connection to existing programs, policies and initiatives in each country is paramount  Evaluation critical.

Value of this Project  School driven process  Engages stakeholders in community  Creates leadership and SD skills  Cross cultural relationships and dialogue  Local and global citizenship